Post by geoffrey on Apr 25, 2013 9:14:10 GMT -6
Yes, it can be done. A campaign can be conducted in Tolkien's Middle-earth using the Lamentations of the Flame Princess RPG, without changing either of them. I'm talking 100% by-the-book LotFP and all of Middle-earth, from the creation by Iluvatar to the death of Arwen Evenstar. Here is how I would do it:
J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth in its final conceptions will serve as the campaign setting. The campaign will begin in the 2,013th year of the Fourth Age. This is a little over two millennia after the destruction of the One Ring, and 1,893 years after the death of the King Elessar.
Geographically, the campaign will begin in the lands immediately south of the large-scale map in The Lord of the Rings. This allows for my own maps, warmer climes, corsairs/pirates, and cultures and peoples rather similar to those of north Africa in addition to the cultures and peoples of northwestern Middle-earth.
None of the Five Wizards remain, and only a few scattered Wood Elves remain (since most Elves have passed over the Sea). These remaining elves have no desire or ability to pass over the Sea to the Undying Lands.
Amongst the people of Middle-earth in FO 2013, disagreements exist over the historicity of the recorded events of the first three ages of Middle-earth. Opinions span the spectrum from complete denial to complete acceptance of this history.
The good guys after the War of the Ring did their job well. Orcs, trolls, giant spiders, etc. were all hunted to extinction. Of the fantastic beings found in Tolkien's writings, only dwarfs, elves, and halflings remain (the latter having abandoned the name "Hobbit" in favor of "halfling").
One of the two Blue Wizards was the father of the arts of clerics, and the other Blue Wizard was the father of the arts of magic-users.
All monsters in Middle-earth in FO 2013 come from the following sources:
1. the Summon spell
2. the Animate Dead spell
3. the Animate Dead Monsters spell
4. Summoned monsters that have the ability "Victims Rise as Undead"
The technology level of Middle-earth in FO 2013 is that described in the LotFP RPG.
The entirety of Tolkien's 57-year creation can be divulged to the players in about 15 seconds: "You know Tolkien's Middle-earth (whether books or movies)? That is the campaign world's distant past. Bilbo and Frodo lived about 2,000 years ago. That was then, and this is now. Let's make some characters and get going."
This has the advantage of having a campaign setting created for you over a span of 57-years by an Oxford professor. You can steal the whole thing in 2 seconds. By putting all the events of Tolkien's stories in the distant past, you ensure that the PCs don't muck things up ("Oops. I accidently killed Frodo. Now what?"), and you can use the LotFP rules exactly as written with no additions or subtractions. Orcs? They aren't in the rules, so they're extinct. Dwarfs? They're in the rules, so they still exist. Etc. Put another way: You and your players get the thrill of adventuring in the same world as Gandalf, Elrond, Bilbo, Frodo, Aragorn, and all the rest, but without restricting your game at all by necessitating changes to the rules.
J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth in its final conceptions will serve as the campaign setting. The campaign will begin in the 2,013th year of the Fourth Age. This is a little over two millennia after the destruction of the One Ring, and 1,893 years after the death of the King Elessar.
Geographically, the campaign will begin in the lands immediately south of the large-scale map in The Lord of the Rings. This allows for my own maps, warmer climes, corsairs/pirates, and cultures and peoples rather similar to those of north Africa in addition to the cultures and peoples of northwestern Middle-earth.
None of the Five Wizards remain, and only a few scattered Wood Elves remain (since most Elves have passed over the Sea). These remaining elves have no desire or ability to pass over the Sea to the Undying Lands.
Amongst the people of Middle-earth in FO 2013, disagreements exist over the historicity of the recorded events of the first three ages of Middle-earth. Opinions span the spectrum from complete denial to complete acceptance of this history.
The good guys after the War of the Ring did their job well. Orcs, trolls, giant spiders, etc. were all hunted to extinction. Of the fantastic beings found in Tolkien's writings, only dwarfs, elves, and halflings remain (the latter having abandoned the name "Hobbit" in favor of "halfling").
One of the two Blue Wizards was the father of the arts of clerics, and the other Blue Wizard was the father of the arts of magic-users.
All monsters in Middle-earth in FO 2013 come from the following sources:
1. the Summon spell
2. the Animate Dead spell
3. the Animate Dead Monsters spell
4. Summoned monsters that have the ability "Victims Rise as Undead"
The technology level of Middle-earth in FO 2013 is that described in the LotFP RPG.
The entirety of Tolkien's 57-year creation can be divulged to the players in about 15 seconds: "You know Tolkien's Middle-earth (whether books or movies)? That is the campaign world's distant past. Bilbo and Frodo lived about 2,000 years ago. That was then, and this is now. Let's make some characters and get going."
This has the advantage of having a campaign setting created for you over a span of 57-years by an Oxford professor. You can steal the whole thing in 2 seconds. By putting all the events of Tolkien's stories in the distant past, you ensure that the PCs don't muck things up ("Oops. I accidently killed Frodo. Now what?"), and you can use the LotFP rules exactly as written with no additions or subtractions. Orcs? They aren't in the rules, so they're extinct. Dwarfs? They're in the rules, so they still exist. Etc. Put another way: You and your players get the thrill of adventuring in the same world as Gandalf, Elrond, Bilbo, Frodo, Aragorn, and all the rest, but without restricting your game at all by necessitating changes to the rules.
